“Wolf, a mechanical engineer and professor of industrial design and visual communication at Arizona State University, is a life-long cat lover. After his involvement with the rescue of around 900 cats from a bad situation in Nevada, he began to do research into the feral cat problem, particularly into successful and unsuccessful attempts to manage it. ‘I kept coming across some very dubious claims,’ he told me. ‘And the more I’d dig into them, the worse it got. You’d start out thinking there was broad support for a particular claim, but you’d start drilling down a little bit and see all the references supporting that claim pointed to the same flawed study. So this ‘broad support’ became questionable.’”

“[Peter] is now firmly planted in the animal welfare world. Google his site, and his postings are carried on sites across the blogosphere. The site, launched in April 2010, he says, was done ‘out of frustration with the poor quality of the scientific studies so often cited by TNR opponents, and how often and easily these studies are ‘sold’ to the mainstream media — and, in turn, the public.’”

Face of the Movement
Alley Cat Allies
Spring 2011

Over time, Vox Felinahas become a hub for people working on TNR and feral cat issues. Wolf says the blog builds on the momentum of groups like Alley Cat Allies and helps the movement work more cohesively. “So much of the discussion these days takes place online, and this is an opportunity to combine our efforts and be more efficient at getting the word out.”

Since he started the blog, he’s received numerous thankful emails from people who have taken the information from his site to community discussions about TNR. “It allows them to have an honest discussion. They have the information that they need to counter the disinformation that other groups spread about TNR,” Wolf says. He hopes that decision makers and stakeholders will read the blog, too, “so they know that the situation is far more complex than they’re being told.”

“For USFWS to include such egregious errors in its Predator Management Plan (and there are plenty more, as I’ve documented in my comments to USFWS) suggests carelessness, clearly, but also a disregard for the public they are supposed to serve.

Had USFWS been more diligent in its review of the science, its plan would have addressed the risk of removing free-roaming cats from the Keys. If the agency were successful in removing the cats (unlikely, given their poor track record), the population of black rats would likely skyrocket—and decimate the very populations of native birds, mice and rats USFWS is trying to protect. As would the use of rodenticides that they would use ordinarily to control the population of rats. This phenomenon is well documented in the scientific literature, yet USFWS fails to acknowledge even the possibility in the Keys.”

Animal People
“National Zoo bird researcher is charged with attempting to poison feral cats”
By Merritt Clifton
June 2011
Read the article

“The American Bird Conservancy web site provides links to two of Dauphine’s articles, “Impacts of Free-Ranging Domestic Cats (Felis Catus) on Birds” and “What Conservation Biologists Can Do to Counter Trap-Neuter-Return.” Both have been extensively critiqued by Vox Felina blogger and science writer Peter J. Wolf, who describes Vox Felina as “a repository of research notes, news stories, correspondence, and associated commentary focused on a range of issues related to ‘the plight’ of feral cats in general, and trap-neuter-return in particular.

Wolf focuses on what he terms “the lack of rigorous research related to the efficacy and impact of TNR, the flawed science promoted by many TNR opponents, the unbalanced-often dishonest-nature of the feral cat/TNR debate, and the disastrous consequences. There are legitimate issues to be debated regarding the efficacy, environmental impact, and morality of TNR,” Wolf acknowledges. “But attempts at an honest, productive debate are hampered-if not derailed entirely-by the dubious claims so often put forward by TNR opponents.”

Best Friends Animal SocietyConfessions of the (Not So) Crazy Cat Ladies, Part 4
By Cimeron Morrissey
August 01, 2011Read the article

“Peter’s blog is very enlightening since it helps people understand both sides of the issues and he says what he’s found out to be true or not,” says Shelly Kotter, national specialist for Best Friends’ cat initiatives. “Vox Felina is a very valuable tool for the community cat movement, and so is Peter.”